house, his rifle still pointed at Isaiah. The front door opened slightly, and a broom with a white cloth hanging on the end slowly emerged through the crack.
“Don’t shoot,” Otha said. “I’m comin’ out now, me and my babies. We’s the only folk in here. Ain’t got no firearm. I ain’t gonna hurt nobody.”
Otha came out, her hands in the air, her twins crying and clinging to her long dress.
“Don’t you betray me, woman!” Isaiah shouted.
“You lied to me from the start,” Otha retorted. “You stole that child from her kin. Whatever happens to you now, you’re deservin’ of it.”
Abby looked at Ella, who seemed dazed. “It’s okay, sweetie. No one can hurt you now.”
But even as Abby said the words, she knew that the emotional hurt was immediate and deep, possibly even irreversible, as her sister was about to be separated from the only family—the only life—she had ever known.
Virgil turned off his siren and got out of his squad car. He spotted a bearded man in the back of Kevin Mann’s car, and Hawk and Abby standing with Jay and a little girl in the shade of a huge hickory tree.
Kevin jogged over to him. “Hey, Sheriff.”
“Fill me in,” Virgil said.
“Everything’s under control. Hawk Cummings took care of business.”
“Anybody dead?”
“No, sir. He shot the rifle right out of the perp’s hand. The guy’s name’s Isaiah Tutt. He’s a backwoods hick with his own mind-set—a real piece o’ work. The bullet grazed his hand, but he’s all right. I’ll have the paramedics take a look at it when they get here.”
“Has he asked for a lawyer?”
“Doesn’t want one. He doesn’t trust anyone connected with law enforcement.”
“How’re the kids?”
“Plenty shook up,” Kevin said. “Cut and bruised. Dehydrated and hungry. Sore. I think Jay’s nose is broke, and Abby’s got a nasty gash on her head that needs stitching. Ella took a mean slap to the face. I gave them each a Gatorade, and they gulped it down right quick.”
Virgil saw Billy Gene talking with a young woman clad in a long dress, her hair tied back, who sat on the porch steps with her arms around two little boys. “Is that Tutt’s family?”
“Unfortunately for them.” Kevin arched his carrot-red eyebrows. “Wife’s name’s Otha. The twin boys, Ronny and Donny, are three years old. The young’uns have been real quiet. I think they sense something bad happened.”
“Was the wife an accomplice?” Virgil said.
“I don’t think so. Abby and Jay said she rescued them from a hole beneath the root cellar and told them how to get off the property. She surrendered on her own after Hawk showed up. And judging by the way she lashed out at Tutt for telling her the girl was his, I think she was clueless. We’re taking her in for questioning. An uncle is coming to pick up the twins and keep them until we sort this out.”
“Good work.” Virgil lifted his Stetson and wiped his forehead, then walked over to Hawk.
“Hey, Sheriff,” Hawk said.
“I hear you took care of business.” Virgil smiled and extended his hand.
Hawk clasped Virgil’s hand and shook it, a twinkle in his eye. “I’d have waited for your deputies, but Tutt was about to kill Jay and I couldn’t let that happen.”
“How’d you know where to go?” Virgil said.
“I didn’t really. I watched what was going on with your deputies and saw the direction the dogs were running. I remembered seeing a log house on this side of the property when I was out hunting over yonder. So I got in my truck and headed over here. I nosed through the woods around the property and didn’t see any sign of them. I was about to leave when the dogs stopped baying. I wasn’t sure what was going on. Next thing I knew, Jay, Abby, and a little girl came out of the woods. Some mean-looking dude prodded them with a rifle, so I hid in the trees and followed them. I saw everything. Tutt threatened to kill Jay.”
“Where’d you learn to shoot like that?” Virgil said.
Hawk shrugged, his cheeks flushed. “It happened so fast I didn’t have time to think about it.”
“Hawk saved my life,” Jay said. “Well, all of our lives. If Isaiah had killed me, he’d have gone after Abby and Ella.”
Abby nodded. “He killed Daddy. And kidnapped Ella, I mean Riley Jo, and he admitted—”
“Hold on a second.” Virgil held up his palm. “You say Tutt killed your father?”
“Yes,” Abby said. “But Jay thought he did it